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How To Buy A Guitar Guide
By chris | May 3, 2009
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Buying a guitar for the first time can be an intimidating experience. There are literally thousands of models – most of which sound relatively similar if you’re new to guitar playing. This guide will walk you through the decisions you need to make before you walk out of the store, in the order you need to make them.
Acoustic Guitar or Electric?
This is the most basic decision when purchasing a guitar. Acoustic guitars are louder when they aren’t hooked up to an external sound system, but you have less options when it comes to modulating your guitar’s tone (e.g. distortion, adjusting bass and treble, special effects like phasers and wah pedals).
Electric guitars are incredibly versatile instruments, but you simply can’t achieve that expansive, rhythmic, clean sound of a high-quality acoustic guitar – even if you purchase the most expensive effect pedals on the market.
Consider purchasing an acoustic guitar if you match any of these characteristics:
- You love listening to country, folk, or acoustic rock.
- You don’t care about modulating your guitar’s sound.
- You don’t want to purchase, or don’t have access to, an external sound amplifier.
- You like the tone of an acoustic guitar better.
If you match any of these traits, you should probably buy an electric:
- You love listening to rock, jazz, metal, or any style of music that sounds better with amplification and effects.
- You want to experiment with different sound effects.
- You don’t mind purchasing, or have access to, an external sound amplifier.
- You don’t mind waking up the neighbors.
Buying an Acoustic Guitar
Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/abhijittembhekar/3101829574/}Abhijit Tembhekar{/link}
When you test guitars, make sure you try different playing techniques. Pay special attention to the fretboard. Is it easy to slide from one fret to another? How do you like the volume and tone? Acoustic guitar tones vary greatly between different woods, necks, and the style of the guitar bridge. Make sure you try a wide variety to get a better idea of what’s available.
Also decide whether you want an electro-acoustic or a standard acoustic guitar. Electro-acoustics can plug into an external amplifier system and are able to have their treble, mid, and bass levels adjusted when plugged in. Standard acoustic guitars can not be amplified.
Buying an Electric Guitar
It’s a bit safer to purchase an electric guitar online, but I still recommend trying a model out at a music store before you order anything. You’ll also have to consider which guitar amplifier you want to purchase. Your guitar tone will be greatly affected by your choice of amplifier, so choose carefully.
Electric guitars tend to be designed for specific styles of music. It’s best to choose a guitar that’s meant for the style of music you want to play. This will probably require a bit of research on your part.
Electric guitars are equipped with either humbuckers or standard pickups. The conventional wisdom is to use humbuckers if you’re going to primarily be playing heavily distorted music (heavy rock, metal, punk, progressive etc.). Otherwise most guitar players go with standard pickups.
As with acoustic guitars, pay attention to how comfortable the fret board feels when testing an electric guitar. Also, experiment with different guitar weights.
Test, test, test…
Guitars are fairly expensive and some stores don’t allow returns. Make sure you try playing a wide variety and that you try using different playing techniques. Most of all, enjoy the shopping experience!
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